I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, but finally am getting around to it…

Aegean, a Greek airline, is one of the many member airlines of the Star Alliance. They are a relatively recent entry to the alliance.

All miles earned for signing up and crediting flights to the program are elite qualifying and you get 1,000 miles for enrolling and those miles count towards elite status!

Here’s the cool part, they only require 4,000 miles for Blue card status (which gets you Star Alliance Silver status) and 20,000 miles for Gold card status (which gets you Star Alliance Gold status). Contrast that to the 25,000 miles required for Silver and 50,000 miles required for Gold on an annual basis with the US based carriers.

Not only that but according to the published terms of the program you just need to credit a single flight to Aegean in that time period and it will extend your account and the gold status for another 36 months. The thing is that nobody has actually had their Aegean gold status expire yet as the program only started in 2010, so it is possible they will add more requirements in the future to keep the status, but for now it’s really easy to attain and really easy to extend.

You have 1 year from when you signup to the program to get 3,000 more flight miles to reach Silver status at 4,000 total miles.

You then have 1 year from when you earn Blue/Silver status to credit 16,000 more flight miles to Aegean and earn Gold status until the end of the 3rd year from when you qualify.

When flying on any Star Alliance carrier just give them your Aegean frequent flyer number to get credit for the flight in Aegean miles.

This is where things get a little tricky and it’s important to note the fare class of the ticket you buy, but here are the general rules:Always check the fare class before purchasing a ticket and crediting it to Aegean. If you are booking a mileage run it may pay to book a more expensive fare class to get more miles.
-All USAirways coach fares earn 100% of the flown miles when credited to Aegean. Some business fares earn 150%.
-Some United deeply discounted fares don’t earn any miles, most United discounted fares give only 50% of the flown miles when credited to Aegean, medium fares give 100%, full Y earns 150%, all business fares earn 200% and all first class fares earn a whopping 300% of flown miles when credited to Aegean.
-Some Air Canada fares don’t earn any miles at all when crediting to Aegean.

Thus mileage runs for Aegean elite status should either be done in coach on USAirways or in business or first on United.

Elite Benefits:

-Star Alliance Silver gets you and your travel companions a free checked bag on Star Alliance carriers like Air Canada, United, and USAirways.

-Star Alliance Gold gets you and each of your travel companions 3 free checked bags on Air Canada, United, and USAirways. United even allows each bag to weigh 70 pounds.

-When you have Star Alliance Gold status from United or USAirways you can’t access any of their lounges when traveling domestically, but when you have Star Alliance Gold status from a foreign carrier like Aegean you get free access at any of the 900+ Star Alliance lounges worldwide, even when traveling domestically in the US, for you and a companion.

-When flying on United having Star Alliance Gold status will allow you to make the free same-day confirmed changes to your flight when done in the online check-in process.

Caveats:
-Aegean miles aren’t worth nearly as much as United or USAirways miles, so once you get the status you want you will want to switch back to earning miles from those carriers. Most airlines will allow you to switch your mileage program from Aegean to one like United after checking in your luggage.
-You won’t get upgrades on United or USAirways like you would if you earned elite status in their programs.
-You won’t get bonus miles on United or USAirways like you would if you earned elite status in their programs.
-You won’t get expanded elite award availability on United like you would if you earned elite status in their programs.

I never really trusted Aeroplan. They were sold off by Air Canada to become its own company and that was part of the reason why it worried me. Most airlines control their own mileage programs.
In 2010 I wrote that I don’t accumulate Aeroplan miles because they scare me. And that was even though at that time you could fly in first class to Europe for 100K, Asia for 120K, or Australia for 140K and have 2 free stopovers along the way.

A year afterwards in 2011 they devalued their miles by significantly raising the miles required for long-haul awards. Those 100/120/140 rates became 125/175/185.

In 2012 they added fuel surcharges to book travel on Adria, Air Canada, ANA, Asiana, Austrian, LOT Polish, Lufthansa, TAP Portugal, and THAI. (There is currently no fuel surcharge if you redeem their miles for travel on the following carriers: Aegean, Air China, Air New Zealand, Avianca/TACA, Brussels, Copa, Croatia, EgyptAir, Ethiopian, EVA, SAS, Singapore, South African, Swiss, TAM, Turkish, United, and USAirways. That can change though without notice.)

Effective 01/01/14 there are more changes for the worse:

-Travel from the US to Israel and the Middle East will go up from 135K business/190K first to 165K business/230K first. Coach remains 80K. Compare that to Star Alliance partner United requiring 120K in business and 150K in first. Plus United never charges fuel surcharges.

-Travel from the US to Australia will go up from 135K business/185K first to 160K business/220K first. Coach remains 80K. Compare that to Star Alliance partner United requiring 135K in business and 160K in first.

-Rates to Asia will go up significantly as well with rates on some routes a full 95,000 more miles than United would charge and that’s before Aeroplan fuel surcharges on select carriers!

Aeroplan does throw a couple bones.

-You will be able to book one-way travel for half the rate of round-trip travel starting 01/01/14. United already does that.

-Aeroplan miles will no longer have a 7 year expiration policy effective 01/01/14.. They still require activity every 12 months (compared to the industry standard 18 months) but at least they won’t expire regardless of activity anymore.

I’ll concede that there are a few nice things about Aeroplan:
1. They have one of the best lap child policies out there. You pay a flat fee of just $50 in coach, $100 in business, and $125 in first for a lap child. Compare that to 10% of the paid fare with other airlines.
2. They allow for 2 free stopovers
3. There are no expedite/close-in fees.
4. Cancellation of an award is just $90 but you need to do it more than 21 days before departure or else you’ll have to pay a $90 date change fee to make it after 21 days and then pay an additional $90 to cancel it.

Want out of Aeroplan? It’s not too late!

If you open a Points.com account you will be able to transfer points from Air Canada Aeroplan into USAirways at a 100:84 ratio. This is much better than other typically terrible points.com exchange rates.
You need to transfer a minimum of 15,000 points.
15K Air Canada would net 12,601 USAirways miles. 100K Air Canada miles would net 84,011 USAirways miles.

Note that currently USAirways is part of the Star Alliance but in the not-so-distant future they will become part of American and the OneWorld alliance. Overall that’s probably a positive thing for USAirways miles and it may even be worth transferring American Express Membership Rewards points via this method before it’s too late.

-Airline/Hotel credit cards where the points are deposited monthly into your airline/hotel account remain even if the card is no longer active, subject to the normal expiration dates listed in the chart below.
You will not instantly lose any earned Hyatt/Starwood/American/BA/Delta/Southwest/United/etc. points just for closing their credit card. Some representatives use scare tactics and say your points or tickets will be lost if you cancel the card but it’s just misinformation.

-Proprietary credit card point programs (American Express Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou, Chase Ultimate Rewards) do not expire as long as you keep at least one card open that is enrolled in their respective program.

Below is a chart of 27 programs where you can easily see when your airline miles and hotel points will expire as well as where you can transfer points from which usually will extend the life of your points and miles.

There are Dan Lounges in the B and C corridors in TLV. Here’s how you can access them.

Option 1: Lounge Club.
You can get a free Lounge Club membership with a card like the Chase Ink Bold, Ink Plus, or Ink Cash cards.You can apply here for the free membership with code: CHASEINK
You get 2 free visits per year with this membership and you will be billed $27 for additional visits or guests.
The good news is that additional user cards are free on Ink cards and they also qualify for their own Lounge Club membership cards!

Option 2: Priority Pass
You can get a free Priority Pass membership with a card like the The Platinum Card® from American Express and The Business Platinum Card® from American Express OPEN.You can apply here for the free membership
While with the Platinum card lounge program on American, Delta, and USAirways you can bring in 2 guests or your entire family for free, that is not the case with lounges that require Priority Pass access. Additionally while the Platinum card access continues to work even if you cancel your Platinum account, the Priority Pass membership does not.
With Priority Pass you get unlimited free visits per year but you will be billed $27 for guests.
Additional user cards do qualify for their own free Priority Pass membership. On the consumer Platinum card you can add 3 additional users onto your account for a $175 annual fee ($58.33/card).

Option 3: Chase United Club
You can get a free United Club membership with the Chase United Club card. You can access that card from the Club tab on the Chase United Explorer card.
The United Club membership provides free access for you and 2 guests or your entire family to United and USAirways lounges even if you are not flying that day. However when you access other partner lounges you generally need to be flying on a Star Alliance airline (like Aegean, Air Canada, Austrian, Brussels, LOT, Lufthansa, SAS, Swiss, Turkish, United, or USAirways) to access the lounge and you are typically limited to one or two guests, depending on the lounge and the mood of the agent.

Option 4: United Club Membership
You can also access the lounge with a United Club membership the same way as a Chase United Club cardholder would. Though a club membership typically costs more than the credit card does.

Option 5: Star Alliance Gold
If you have Star Alliance Gold elite status you can access the lounge with 1 guest when flying on a Star Alliance airline.
It’s ridiculously easy to get Star Alliance Gold status via Aegean and that status may be even be good for life! Fringe benefits of Aegean Star Gold status when flying an airline like United? Free confirmed flight changes at online checkin, 3 free 70 pound bags for you and all your companions, and Star Alliance lounge access worldwide. That even includes free lounge access in the US where United blocks its own top-tier elites from accessing their own lounges as they want them to buy a membership or get the United Club card!

Option 6: Fly Business or First!
When you fly in premium classes most airlines will give you a lounge pass to access the Dan Lounge. Even if you aren’t gives a pass at checkin you can also try to access the lounge with your boarding pass. You can even give your business/first class lounge pass to a friend flying coach and access the lounge via any of the other methods as well!

Notes:
-Fees are per passenger and apply for one-way and round-trip awards (Delta and USAirways do not have one-way awards).
-Airlines charge a phone fee for award tickets. However United and USAirways will typically waive this fee upon request if it can’t be booked online. Delta agents can hold a reservation and then you can book it online without a fee. American typically won’t waive their $25 phone fee.
-Elite fee waivers are based on the passenger’s account redeeming the miles, not the traveler’s account.
-Post a comment if you catch any mistakes!

Airline:

Booking within 21 days of departure fee.

Date change or change to connecting cities fee.

Change of airline fee.

Change to origin or destination city fee:

Award cancellation and mileage redeposit fee:

Fuel Surcharges

AA

-$75.

-$0 for elites.

-$0 except for a $75 fee to change to a flight within 21 days of the original ticketing date for non-elites.

-$0 for elites.

-$0 except for a $75 fee to change to a flight within 21 days of the original ticketing date for non-elites.

-$0 for elites.

-$150

-$0 for AAnytime AAwards

-$0 for Executive Platinum.

-$150 for the first passenger.

-$25 for additional passengers or for additional mileage tickets redeposited at the same time.

-$0 for Executive Platinum.

-Collects a fuel surcharge for travel on British Airways ($$$) and Iberia ($).

Delta

-$0

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No changes allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No changes allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No changes allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No cancellations allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-Collects a fuel surcharge for flights on select partner airlines and for all flights originating in select regions such as Europe.

United

-$75 for non-elites.

-$50 for Silver.

-$25 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$0 for United Club credit cardholders.

-$0 except for a $75 fee to change to a new flight within 21 days of the day the change is made for non-elites

-$50 for Silver within 21 days.

-$25 for Gold within 21 days.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$75 for non-elites.

-$50 for Silver.

-$25 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$75 for non-elites

-$50 for Silver.

-$25 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$150 for non-elites.

-$125 for Silver.

-$100 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-None.

USAirways

-$75.

-$0 for Gold elite or higher.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred.

-No changes are allowed once travel has begun on partner airline itineraries.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred

-No changes are allowed once travel has begun on partner airline itineraries.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred

-No changes are allowed once travel has begun on partner airline itineraries.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred

-Collects a $25-$50 "award processing fee" for non-elites and Silver elites on all awards.

The final flight with a Continental flight number will be Continental 1267 which is scheduled to depart on March 2nd from Phoenix at 11:59pm and arrive in Cleveland at 5:46am.

Saturday March 3rd is the switchover date, and there’s a decent chance it will be a nightmare travel day as the systems are combined and United agents start using the Continental SHARES system.

On March 3rd your Continental OnePass and United MileagePlus accounts will be merged. The fun part (well, at least for a Continental guy like me) is that everyone’s surviving number will be the Continental 8 digit alphanumeric number. The United number will be history. If you only have a United number you’ll be generated an 8 digit alphanumeric number. So the name United MileagePlus survives, but the Continental number lives on.

If you earned Continental or United elite status in 2010 and didn’t requalify in 2011 that status will expire on March 2nd.

Continental.com will automatically forward to United.com…except that it will look exactly like Continental.com looks like it does now but with the United name and logo (which now has the Continental globe instead of the tulip). That’s a good thing as Continental.com is far more adept and advanced than United.com.

-The Continental OnePass Plus card will be going away, probably on or before March 3rd, so now is the last chance to apply for that card, which along with the United MileagePlus Explorer card can both be matched from 30K up to 50K after you receive the card.
Both cards also give primary rental car insurance (almost all other cards only provide secondary coverage to your own personal car insurance), they make your miles never expire, give free checked luggage and priority boarding, in-flight food, drink, and TV discounts, last seat EasyPass award availability, 2 annual lounge passes, 10K bonus miles for spending $25K annually, upgrades for elite cardholders on award tickets, and double miles for Continental and United purchases.

The chart below has been updated with all of the latest baggage fee changes for 21 US and Canadian carriers. It first displays in alphabetical order the US based network carriers, followed by all other US based carriers, followed by Canadian carriers.

-All fees listed are for each way, simply double the fee to calculate the cost for round-trip travel.

-The following chart is applicable for economy class travel only.

-Prices for US carriers are for travel from the United States to the listed destination.

-Prices for Canadian carriers are for travel to or from Canada and the listed destination.

-Generally if one person on an itinerary is exempt then everyone of that reservation is also exempt from baggage fees!

The chart below has been updated with all of the latest baggage fee changes for 21 US and Canadian carriers. It first displays in alphabetical order the US based network carriers, followed by all other US based carriers, followed by Canadian carriers.

-All fees listed are for each way, simply double the fee to calculate the cost for round-trip travel.

-The following chart is applicable for economy class travel only.

-Prices for US carriers are for travel from the United States to the listed destination.

-Prices for Canadian carriers are for travel to or from Canada and the listed destination.

-Generally if one person on an itinerary is exempt then everyone of that reservation is also exempt from baggage fees!

The new chart includes all of the latest prices changes for 21 airlines for checking bags online and at the airport, domestic and international, and it includes the price for excess bags, large bags, and heavy bags. It also has a list of exempt passengers for each airline. Generally if one person on an itinerary is exempt then everyone of that reservation is also exempt from baggage fees!

Update: The chart has been updated with AA now waiving the award expedite fees for all elite members. Congrats to all those that became lifetime AA elite members by transferring Starwood points into AA miles last month!

Notes:
-Fees are per passenger unless otherwise noted.
-USAirways also charges an “award processing fee” of $25-$50 depending on the destination.
-Many airlines charge a phone fee of $20-$25 for tickets even if it’s a ticket that can’t be booked online (such as a ticket with a stopover or a ticket on a partner airline). The notable exception to this is USAirways which does not charge a fee if the ticket can’t be booked online. With other airlines you can ask for a fee waiver, but you may or may not get one.
-Airlines that have tiered fee schedule are based on the redeeming (not the traveling) member’s elite status, as outlined below.
-Post a comment if you catch any mistakes!

Airline:

Booking within 21 days of departure fee.

Date change or change to connecting cities fee.

Change of airline fee.

Change to origin or destination city fee:

Award cancellation and mileage redeposit fee:

Fuel Surcharges

AA

-$75.

-$0 for elites.

-$0 except for a $75 fee to change to a flight within 21 days of the original ticketing date for non-elites.

-$0 for elites.

-$0 except for a $75 fee to change to a flight within 21 days of the original ticketing date for non-elites.

-$0 for elites.

-$150

-$0 for AAnytime AAwards

-$0 for Executive Platinum.

-$150 for the first passenger.

-$25 for additional passengers or for additional mileage tickets redeposited at the same time.

-$0 for Executive Platinum.

-Collects a fuel surcharge for travel on British Airways ($$$) and Iberia ($).

Delta

-$0

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No changes allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No changes allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No changes allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-$150

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-No cancellations allowed within 72 hours of departure.

-Collects a fuel surcharge for flights on select partner airlines and for all flights originating in select regions such as Europe.

United

-$75 for non-elites.

-$50 for Silver.

-$25 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$0 for United Club credit cardholders.

-$0 except for a $75 fee to change to a new flight within 21 days of the day the change is made for non-elites

-$50 for Silver within 21 days.

-$25 for Gold within 21 days.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$75 for non-elites.

-$50 for Silver.

-$25 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$75 for non-elites

-$50 for Silver.

-$25 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-$150 for non-elites.

-$125 for Silver.

-$100 for Gold.

-$0 for Platinum elite or higher.

-None.

USAirways

-$75.

-$0 for Gold elite or higher.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred.

-No changes are allowed once travel has begun on partner airline itineraries.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred

-No changes are allowed once travel has begun on partner airline itineraries.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred

-No changes are allowed once travel has begun on partner airline itineraries.

-$150

-$0 for Chairman’s Preferred

-Collects a $25-$50 "award processing fee" for non-elites and Silver elites on all awards.

Award Expedite Fees

Airline:

14-20 days prior to travel:

7-13 days prior to travel:

0-6 days prior to travel:

AA

Free for Elites

$50 for the first passenger.

$25 for additional passengers or for additional mileage tickets booked at the same time.

Free for Elites

$50 for the first passenger.

$25 for additional passengers or for additional mileage tickets booked at the same time.

Free for Elites

$100 for the first passenger.

$25 for additional passengers or for additional mileage tickets booked at the same time.

Update: You can call BMI at +44 (0)1332 854274 (2 cents per minute via Google Voice) to request that your Star Alliance Silver card be expedited. In the package are some other goodies like a Star Alliance Silver luggage tag.

Did you get free Silver status on BMI? Lucky you! You now can get free checked bags for yourself and your traveling companions on airlines like Continental, United, and USAirways.

When you are viewing the reservation click on “Edit traveler information”

At the very bottom of that page you will find “Frequent Flyer Information (Optional),” select British Midland (BMI) Diamond Club and enter in your BMI member number.

24 hours before your flight you can checkin at Continental.com and select bags. If you have BMI Silver status it should allow you and everyone else on your itinerary to select 2 free 50 pound bags. On your boarding pass it will also display your BMI number along with *S. *S stands for Star Alliance Silver.

If for whatever reason it does not allow you to select bags for free you can try calling Continental up, but your best bet may be at the airport. At every airport is a sign saying how much luggage costs and it’s very clear that Star Alliance Silver members get 2 free bags. Below is a pic that I took at LAX of the sign with my phone last week. Just show the agent that your boarding pass says *S and they will be able to waive your luggage fees.

After checking your luggage at the airport using one of Continental’s kiosks you can go back into your reservation at the kiosk and change your mileage number from BMI to any Star Alliance mileage number that you perfer to earn miles with. I had no problem changing from my BMI/Star Alliance Gold number to my Continental Silver number, but it did cost me an upgrade More about that in my trip notes…

The chart below has been updated with all of the latest baggage fee changes for 21 US and Canadian carriers. It first displays in alphabetical order the US based network carriers, followed by all other US based carriers, followed by Canadian carriers.

-All fees listed are for each way, simply double the fee to calculate the cost for round-trip travel.

-The following chart is applicable for economy class travel only.

-Prices for US carriers are for travel to or from the United States and the listed destination.

-Prices for Canadian carriers are for travel to or from Canada and the listed destination.

-Generally if one person on an itinerary is exempt then everyone of that reservation is also exempt from baggage fees.

Instead of posting the full baggage fee chart for all 21 US and Canadian airlines every time their baggage fees change, I have named one of the under-utilized tabs on top of this site “Airline baggage fees.”

The chart includes the price for checking bags online and at the airport, domestic and international, and it includes the price for excess bags, large bags, and heavy bags. It also has a list of exempt passengers for each airline. Generally if one person on an itinerary is exempt then everyone of that reservation is also exempt from baggage fees.

Special welcome to Consumerist.com readers! This chart is updated daily with all of the latest baggage fees. Be sure to check out dansdeals.com daily to read up on all of the great deals and how you can get your baggage fees waived!

The chart below has been updated with all of the latest baggage fee changes for 21 US and Canadian carriers. It first displays in alphabetical order the US based network carriers, followed by all other US based carriers, followed by Canadian carriers.

-All fees listed are for each way, simply double the fee to calculate the cost for round-trip travel.

-The following chart is applicable for economy class travel only.

-Prices for US carriers are for travel to or from the United States and the listed destination.

-Prices for Canadian carriers are for travel to or from Canada and the listed destination.

-Generally if one person on an itinerary is exempt then everyone of that reservation is also exempt from baggage fees.

Recent Updates:
-Effective for tickets bought on or after 11/06/08 for travel on or after 12/05/08 Delta has eliminated the first free bag and lowered the 2nd bag from $50 to $25.
-United has rolled back the 2nd bag fee from $50 to $25 after no other airline matched.
-Airtran has added a $15 first bag fee for tickets bought on or after 11/12/08 for travel on or after 12/05/08. They also raised the price of the 2nd bag to $25.
-Continental will waive the first bag fee for Continental credit cardholders and their traveling companions.

The following chart is for economy class travel only.

Airline

1st Bag fee each way:

2nd Bag fee each way:

Affected Travel Locations:

Exemptions

Exemptions

Exemptions

AA

$15

$25

US and Canada.

AAdvantage and OneWorld alliance Elite members

Anyone traveling on the same reservation as an elite member

Full “Y class” refundable tickets.

AAnytime mileage awards.

Continental

$15

$25

1st bag: U.S./Canada

2nd bag: North and South America, excluding Brazil.

Onepass and Skyteam alliance Elite members as well as Continental Pres Plus Mastercard holders get 2 free bags.

Continental credit/debit cardholders get 1 free checked bag.

Identical exemption for anyone traveling on the same reservation as the exempt member

Here are the current standby policies of the major carriers as of 07/31 and incorporates the policy changes by AA, Frontier and USAirways that have occurred during July.

Prediction: Traditional free unconfirmed standby will be the next victim of $150 oil.

AA:
-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $35 $50. This can be confirmed within 12 hours of the departure of the new flight. Confirmed standby requires special inventory (“E”) to be available on the new flight which will require a phone call to AA to check on and confirm.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is still available for free for flights departing on the same day as the original flight.

-Standby is only available for travel within the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada and the Caribbean.

Airtran:
-Confirmed standby is available only at the airport for flights on the same day as your original flight for $25.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is still available for free for flights departing on the same day as the original flight.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Continental:
-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing within 24 hours of your original flight for $50. However, this can only be confirmed within 12 hours of the departure of the new flight. Confirmed standby requires inventory available in the fare class that you are currently booked into. As long as any seats are available, Continental will open up availability in all fare classes at exactly 12 hours before their flights to allow for confirmed standby changes.

-Confirmed standby is $25 for Continental Gold and Platinum elites.

-It is free to be added to a regular unconfirmed standby list, but you will be charged $50 if you clear the list ($25 for Continental Gold and Platinum elites.)

-Standby is available systemwide.

Delta:
-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $50. This can only be confirmed within 3 hours of the departure of the new flight. Confirmed standby required special inventory to be available on the new flight which will require a phone call to Delta.

-Standby is only available for travel within the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Frontier:

-Confirmed and unconfirmed standby is now only available for Summit level elite members.

-Changes may only be made for flights departing the same day as your original flight by paying the difference between the fare paid and the walk-up fare for the new flight. The $150 change fee will be waived for same day flight changes.

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $50 at the airport within 4 hours of the departure of the new flight.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free for flights departing the same day as your original flight.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Jetblue:
-Confirmed standby is available beginning at midnight in the time zone of your original flight to change to any other flight on the same day for $40.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is available for the flight prior to your original flight for free. If you are flying on the first flight of the day then you may use unconfirmed standby to go on the flight right after your original flight for free. If there is only one flight between your city pairs then you may use unconfirmed standby to go on the flight the day before your original flight for free.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Midwest:

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as the original flight for $35 at the airport within 3 hours of the departure of the new flight.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free for flights departing the same day as the original flight.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Northwest:
-Confirmed standby may or may not be available for select flights only when you initially checkin online, for the same day as the original flight for $25. The program is called FlyNow and nobody at Northwest really knows what it’s all about or how it works. Good luck with that one.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is $25 for flights departing earlier on the same day as your original flight.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free for all Skyteam elites.

-Standby is only available within the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands

Southwest:

-Southwest does not have Standby. Southwest never charges a fee for ticket changes, but you will have to pay the difference in fare.

United:

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $75. This can only be confirmed within 3 hours of the departure of the new flight. It can be confirmed over the phone or at the airport. Confirmed standby requires inventory to be available in your original booking class or in “H.”

-Regular unconfirmed standby is still available for free for flights departing on the same day as the original flight.

-Standby is only available within the U.S.

Regular unconfirmed standby is still available for free for flights departing on the same day as the original flight.

USAirways:

-Confirmed standby is available only at the airport for flights departing the same day as the original flight for $25 $50 within the US48, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and Alaska.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free, but is only available if confirmed standby is not available.

-Standby is not available to Hawaii or Europe.

Virgin America:

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as the original flight for $25 at the airport only.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free for flights departing the same day as the original flight, but must be requested at the airport before the departure of your original flight.

4 US carriers now charge a fuel surcharge on award tickets, although at the present the time the surcharge is significantly less than the hundreds of dollars that foreign carriers charge.

The airlines claim that miles are now worth significantly more now than they were a year ago because tickets cost much more now. While this is true, the fact remains that people are paying more money now for the tickets to earn those miles, so it’s not a valid argument. This is plain and simple a new way to devalue what was once pitched as free travel.

(Side note: Is this really legal? When flying the flight attendants still announce that you can be earning “free travel” by signing up for the airline’s mileage program. How can they promise free travel and then charge for it?)

At any rate, here are the latest fees:

AA: Effective 06/21: $5 fee on all award tickets.
Delta: Effective 08/15: $25 fee for US and Canada travel, $50 fee for international travel. Up to $400 fee for flights originating in Europe.

In today’s hostile environment for airlines the most profitable part of their entire operation is often the selling of frequent flyer miles. Companies, such as credit card issuers, prepay for hundreds of millions of dollars worth of frequent flyer miles to offer as incentives to consumers. AMEX kept Delta afloat during their recent trip to bankruptcy court buy prebuying billions of Delta Skymiles in order to keep the airline, and by extension the Delta AMEX, alive.

Recently a scary trend has been the introduction of the fuel surcharge to award tickets. This is a completely arbitrary charge that is labeled as a tax on on a mileage ticket. Now, there are some real taxes for international award tickets, but they are minimal. The fuel surcharge (which may labeled as “YQ” under taxes) on the other hand can add anywhere from a somewhat palatable $50 to an outrageous $500 to the cost of what is advertised as a free ticket. How this is all legal is beyond me, but I’ll leave that one up to the lawyers out there to take on. In the meantime I have compiled a list of airlines that charge a fuel surcharge when redeeming for award tickets on their own metal (i.e. Using Air France miles to book travel on an Air France airplane).

To make things far more confusing, some airlines only charge a fuel surcharge on award tickets for travel on their own metal, but not for redeeming for a partner award. For example Air Canada charges a fuel surcharge when redeeming for travel on Air Canada, but not for redeeming Air Canada miles for travel on Star Alliance partner Singapore Airlines, even though if you redeem Singapore Airlines miles for travel on Singapore Airlines you will be hit for a fuel surcharge! Continental Airlines doesn’t charge a fuel surcharge when redeeming Continental miles for travel on Continental or SkyTeam partner Air France, however Air France does charge a fuel surcharge when redeeming Air France miles for travel on Air France and they even have the blatant chutzpah to charge a fuel surcharge when redeeming Air France miles for travel on Continental, even though Continental themselves has no fuel surcharge!

Due to research required that is far beyond the scope of this article, what is listed below is just whether each airline charges a fuel surcharge for travel on their own metal. The amount of the surcharge can vary wildly depending on the airline, origination country, routing, etc. Travel on partner airline can vary depending on which miles you are using and which partner you are flying on, and would take much exhaustive research to figure out. However, this much I can tell you: The rule of thumb is airlines that don’t charge a fuel surcharge for redeeming miles for travel on their own metal also don’t charge a fuel surcharge for redeeming miles for travel on partner airlines, even if the partner charges a fuel surcharge. There is no set rule however for airlines that charge a fuel surcharge for redeeming miles for travel on their own metal, they may or may not charge a fuel surcharge for travel on partner airlines, and incredibly it has absolutely nothing to do with whether the partner airline charges a fuel surcharge.

Hopefully that was somewhat clear and understandable!!!

US-based Airlines that do not charge a fuel surcharge for award redemptions when flying on their own metal: AA (OneWorld, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000)Alaska (Multiple partners, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000)Continental (SkyTeam, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:20,000 with direct deposit)Delta (SkyTeam, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000)Important: Delta has recently started charging a fuel surcharge for award travel on Delta metal and on select partners for flights that originate in Europe! To see how this works for yourself search for a RT award ticket from JFK-CDG-JFK which has $77 in taxes, whereas a RT award ticket from CDG-JFK-CDG has $403 in “taxes” which includes a fuel surcharge of about $325 RT)Northwest (SkyTeam, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000)United (Star Alliance, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:20,000 with direct deposit)USAirways (Star Alliance, Starwood transfer partner @ 20,000:25,000)

So, here’s the million dollar question: Why haven’t the fee-happy US airlines added a fuel surcharge to award tickets yet? Is it because of legal fears of advertising free tickets and then charging for them? Is it the fear of killing the the goose that lays golden eggs? As you saw, Delta is now charging a fuel surcharge for award flights from Europe, perhaps they are now testing the waters…

From my inbox,“Dan, I live in New York and I always look forward to your fare postings.My problem with your farecompare links is that most of the time the fare says sold out for the dates that I want. Can you explain to me this phenomenon?”

You’re in luck-there are 3 great deals out of NYC tonight!

Here’s some behind the scenes info.

Airlines publish airfares 3 times daily. From the time they are published it takes between 3-5 hours for it to reach all of the booking sites.Often I post the deal soon after the fares are published-so they are not yet bookable.

Airlines have a very complicated system of class codes. In coach itself an airline can have 20 different fare codes. The price that I write about is the lowest published fare code-of which there are only so many available on any given flight.

When farecompare tells you “sold out” after you try to price out an itinerary that means that on at least one of your flights there are no more seats available in the low fare code.

Mind you, sometimes if you go directly to the airline’s website, it will actually have availability for the dates that you want even though farecompare said sold out!

I passed on the essence of your question to farecompare, and the CEO of farecompare, Rick Seaney, answered me that later this year they will roll out a new system that will actually tell you if the lowest published fare code is available on any given day, before you have to go and price out the Round-Trip ticket.

Until that point, there are a few other options.One is to use Travelocity.com’s flexible booking tool. Just type in your origin and destination and choose “dates flexible.” What comes back is a listing of the lowest published fares, separated by airline. By choosing a fare it will take you to a calandar, of which you choose your preferred dates. If the date you chose turns into an X, that means try again-the fare code is sold out for that date. Keep trying until it allows you to choose a return date and prices out the itinerary.

Travelocity however will only do this for a domestic flight. For an international flight, Zuji will give you the same functionality with the flexible search.

Other Booking Tips:-Unless you require a highly complicated itinerary, it is almost always best to buy directly from the website of the airline that you are traveling on.

-If you do find a cheaper fare on a site like orbitz, be sure to take advantage of the airline’s price guarantee policies!

-Always search for 1 ticket, even if you are a larger party. Many times there will only be 1 seat in a lower fare code-but if you search for 2 seats it will sell you both of them at the higher fare code!

AA:
-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $50. This can be confirmed within 12 hours of the departure of the new flight. Confirmed standby requires special inventory (“E”) to be available on the new flight which will require a phone call to AA to check availability and confirm.

-Traditional unconfirmed standby is available for free on flights departing on the same day as the original flight only for:
-AA and OneWorld Alliance elites
-Full fare (Y, B, H) coach passengers.
-AAnytime mileage tickets
-Business and First Class passengers

-Standby is only available for travel within the U.S., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and Canada and the Caribbean.

Airtran:
-Confirmed standby is available only at the airport for flights on the same day as your original flight for $49.

-Traditional unconfirmed standby is still available for free for flights departing on the same day as the original flight.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Continental:
-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing within 24 hours of your original flight for $50. You can confirm flights up to 24 hours before the new flight’s departure time. Confirmed standby requires inventory available in the fare class that you are currently booked into. As long as sufficient seats are available, Continental will open up additional availability in lower fare classes at 24 hours, 12 hours, and 3.5 before flights to allow for confirmed standby changes.

-Confirmed standby is $25 for Continental Gold Elites and free for Platinum Elites.

-It is free to be added to a traditional unconfirmed standby list, but you will be charged $50 if you clear the list.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Delta:
-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $50. This can only be confirmed within 3 hours of the departure of the new flight. Confirmed standby requires inventory available in the fare class that you are currently booked into.

Jetblue:
-Confirmed standby is available over the phone beginning at midnight in the time zone of your original flight to change to any other flight on the same day for $40.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is available for the flight prior to your original flight for free. If you are flying on the first flight of the day then you may use unconfirmed standby to go on the flight right after your original flight for free. If there is only one flight between your city pairs then you may use unconfirmed standby to go on the flight the day before your original flight for free.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Midwest:

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as the original flight for $50 at the airport within 3 hours of the departure of the new flight.

-Midwest Executive elites receive free confirmed standby.

-Midwest has completely eliminated traditional unconfirmed standby.

-Standby is available systemwide.

Southwest:

-Southwest does not have Standby. Southwest never charges a fee for ticket changes, but you will have to pay the difference in fare.

United:

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as your original flight for $75. This fee is waived for United 1K members. This can only be confirmed within 3 hours of the departure of the new flight. It can be confirmed over the phone or at the airport. Confirmed standby requires inventory to be available in your original booking class or in “H.”

-Regular unconfirmed standby is $50 for flights departing on the same day as the original flight. 1K members can standby for free.

-Standby is only available within the U.S.

USAirways:

-Confirmed standby is available only at the airport for flights departing the same day as the original flight for $50 within the US48, Latin America, the Caribbean, Canada and Alaska.

-Confirmed standby is free for all USAirways Elites.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free, but is only available if confirmed standby is not available.

-Standby is not available to Hawaii or Europe.

Virgin America:

-Confirmed standby is available for flights departing the same day as the original flight for $50 at the airport only.

-Regular unconfirmed standby is free for flights departing the same day as the original flight, but must be requested at the airport before the departure of your original flight.

There are now 4 airlines specializing in the NYC-London market.The previous 3 airlines, Silverjet, Maxjet, and EOS, offer a premium product. Zoom is the first discount carrier to specialize in the market.www.flyzoom.comIf you only want to get to London, then you’re in luck!The JFK-London flights in June/July are $76+$23 in taxes for a total of just $99!Coming home however is about $300 after taxes…Still a good deal for London travel during the high season!

One of the numerous uses of starpoints is the ability to transfer points into airline miles at a 20,000 starpoints=25,000 miles rate.

Cathay Pacific is arguably the best airline in which to transfer points to.Note that Cathay Pacific has no US based credit card, so the Starwood Amex is the absolute best method to earn Asia miles from credit card spending.

People have been asking for months to help clarify the highly complicated Cathay Pacific Asia Miles program, so here’s a start.

The confusion stems from the fact that the program is very different than normal US based mileage programs, but its primary value is owed to that uniqueness.

First of all, about the airline, Cathay Pacific.-They operate with their hub in Hong Kong.-They are part of the Oneworld (AA, BA, JAL, Qantas, etc.) Alliance.-They consistently win awards for their top-notch business and first classes, and even economy is much better than US based airlines.

Cathay Pacific has 2 programs, the Marco Polo club and Asia miles.Marco Polo club is only for recognition for frequent fliers. If you are just transferring starpoints you will never need to worry about the Marco Polo Club, so just ignore it.

US based mileage programs charge based on the country of flying. If you want to go from New York to Tel Aviv or Los Angeles to Tel Aviv on Continental it will be the same 70,000 miles in coach or 100,000 in business/first.At the same token, Los Angeles to Hawaii and New York to Hawaii will always be 35,000 miles.

Asia Miles charges based on the distance of the flight. For regular mileage tickets there are 7 mileage zones.Mileage Zone Chart LinkyHere’s how it works:First go to the great circle mapper to research the one-way distance of a flight.For example type in ORD-LHR(Chicago/O’ Hare-London/Heathrow) to discover that the distance is 3,953 miles, or that JFK-GRU(New York/JFK-Sao Paulo) is 4,745 miles.Then plug the number into the Asia Miles award chart to discover that both of those distances will fall into Zone C.While you use the one-way distance to figure out the zone, the miles shown is the price for a round-trip ticket in that zone.So a round trip ORD-LHR on AA or British Airways or JFK-GRU on AA or JAL will be 45,000 in coach, 60,000 in business, and 90,000 in first.These rates, especially for business class, are significantly less than if you have miles on AA, BA, or JAL.

Here’s where the program gets really bizarre:Look at the distance from LAX-HNL(Los Angeles-Honolulu) and SFO-HNL(S. Fransisco-Honolulu).Believe it or not, LAX is further from HNL than SFO is. 157 miles further to be precise.Because of that very small difference though, SFO-HNL falls into Zone B, while LAX-HNL falls into Zone C!

Until then you have a few work-arounds:1. Call up each partner airline.2. Join the mileage program of the partner airline that you wish to check and you’ll have online access to their inventory.3. Call up the mileage desk of the airline that you have miles on and have them check alliance partner availability.(It’s extremely hard to find an agent who can competently check this)

Another caveat is that many airlines also have earning and redemption possibilities with airlines not in their alliance, so be sure to look up on each airline’s website to know what those are as well!

Advertiser Disclosure: Many of the credit card offers that appear on this site are from credit card companies from which DansDeals.com receives compensation if you are approved. Compensation impacts placement of cards on the credit card page and banner placement, but does not on the articles posted on DansDeals.com. This site does not include all credit card offers available in the marketplace, but rather focuses on travel related cards.
Editorial Note: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuer. Opinions expressed here are author’s alone, not those of the credit card issuer, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuer. These responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.